Mystery manmade item from the Capertee Valley. Help requeste

[davidmorr]

I have been asked if I know anything about this. I do not, but wondered if any of you do?

Hi all

I receive all kinds of requests to identify ‘things’, both natural and manmade found by bushwalkers. I have been thrown one request that is particularly curious. It is also rather old. My attention has been drawn to a paragraph that appeared in the Newcastle Bushwalkers Magazine of May 1975. I am in contact with that club and they are chasing it up for me as far as they can. Regrettably the member who wrote the article and described the artefact is deceased. His name was Darby Munro.

The paragraph is with a group of other unrelated items titled ‘Odds and ends from the Capertee Valley’. The particular paragraph is subtitled’ Wooden things’ It says,

“ We came across a number of wooden gadgets which could not be identified. The thing consisted of about 6 or 8 notched palings on edge, held in position by dowels and spaced at about 14 inch centres by wooden blocks. There was a strong smell of tar. Does anyone know what they were for.”

The writer was still coming to grips with decimal measurements so some are given in each system. The palings are described as 10cm x 1cm on edge, notches 2cm wide and 1cm deep set at 10 cm intervals. The dowels are 1 inch in diameter.

Ideas/ thoughts running through my mind

1 It was racking built by NPWS to store drums of some kind
2 It was a rack for stretching animal skins such as rabbit or fox
3 There is no clue as to where in the Capertee Valley it was located . It could have related to the old Glen Davis Shale Oil refining works

[Grabeach]

I am on Michael Keats (large) mailing list and have received the identical request from him. There will therefore be greater minds than mine researching it!

Out of interest, I note at the bottom of your post, "This post is copyright 2013 by davidmorr. Permission to reproduce elsewhere may be granted for a fee. Please PM me for details." I wouldn't have thought you'd be able to copyright something produced by somebody else!

[Wollemi]

http://www.racingvictoria.net.au/p_Darby_Munro.aspx

1913 - 1966

Born into a racing family in Melbourne, Victoria, Darby Munro was destined to be a jockey and followed in the footsteps of older brother Jim who was an outstanding rider during the 1920's.

He established himself as a star very early on and won the 1930 Doncaster Handicap at the age of 17.

Munro was to ride many champion gallopers during his career in the saddle including Peter Pan, Hall Mark and Shannon. Munro won three Melbourne Cups, five AJC Derbies and five VRC Derbies.

Munro retired in 1955 and was honoured posthumously when he was featured on an Australian stamp in 1981.

The Darby Munro Stakes is run annually by the Sydney Turf Club in his memory.

[juxtaposer]

Not that Darby Munro. The NBC 'Darby' was Arthur 'Darby' Munro. I met him once. He had the terrible misfortune in the mid 80's to be hit by a truck when bicycling. He survived, but it was the end of a very enterprising bushwalking career. I believe he did his first walk with the NBC aged 12. A champion of that club.

[Wollemi]

'It was a rack for stretching animal skins such as rabbit or fox'

http://www.wildwoodsurvival.com/surviva ... des01.html

When I was a child, I saw many cattle skins being dried at one industrial business premises on Hill Rd at Lidcombe, very near Parramatta Rd. They were draped over a single rod each (many dozens each time), facing west. This was early-to-mid 1980's; it was a bizarre sight to me then.

'There is no clue as to where in the Capertee Valley it was located . It could have related to the old Glen Davis Shale Oil refining works'

Or Torbane, or Airley, or below Pantowneys Crown.

~~~~

Dear Mr DavidMorr,

with respectful intent, I have taken - in your absence - liberty of seeking your desired 'Permission to reproduce elsewhere...' - hey! that sounds... curious in itself.

[davidmorr]

I am on Michael Keats (large) mailing list and have received the identical request from him. There will therefore be greater minds than mine researching it!

I didn't know that. Someone sent it to me as I am in Newcastle.

I did actually meet Darby a couple of times. He was a mess at the time, after his accident. There were head injuries and he became very difficult to walk with. His personality had changed.

One of the huts in Gloucester Tops is named after him. Quite a nice little hut which has beds for about eight, or 16 if you are very friendly as they are quite wide. There is a small space outside where you could pitch a few tents. It is a good place to start the Link Trail to Barrington Tops. Beautiful antarctic beech forests on the way. When I did it recently, it had been quite wet and the variety of fungi was amazing.

Out of interest, I note at the bottom of your post, "This post is copyright 2013 by davidmorr. Permission to reproduce elsewhere may be granted for a fee. Please PM me for details." I wouldn't have thought you'd be able to copyright something produced by somebody else!

That arose after this little episode:

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=4934

The original post that I removed is now at the end. I could no longer edit the original one, but I thought it important to have it there to explain what the was all about.

Unfortunately, I can only have one signature.